Wei Chen

De novo design of selective kinase modulators

This study designs genetically encoded miniproteins to modulate FAK kinase activity, showing they can inhibit or activate FAK in vitro and in cells, and adapt them to target other kinases.

Geometric Tuning of Cytokine Receptor Association Modulates Synthetic Agonist Signaling

This paper designs synthetic cytokine agonists with controlled receptor geometry to modulate signaling outcomes and functional effects.

Computational design of sequence-specific DNA-binding proteins

This paper designs sequence-specific DNA-binding proteins computationally and validates them experimentally, achieving high specificity and affinity for target sequences.

Design of intrinsically disordered region binding proteins

The paper designs proteins that bind intrinsically disordered regions with high affinity and specificity across diverse targets.

Lineage recording in monoclonal gastruloids reveals heritable modes of early development

The paper develops monoclonal gastruloids from single mouse embryonic stem cells and uses DNA Typewriter to reveal heritable lineage biases in early development.

A molecular proximity sensor based on an engineered, dual-component guide RNA

This paper introduces P3 editing, a method that links protein-protein proximity to CRISPR-Cas9 dual-component guide RNA formation, enabling genome editing triggered by molecular interactions in human cells.

Target-conditioned diffusion generates potent TNFR superfamily antagonists and agonists

This study uses target-conditioned diffusion to design high-affinity TNFR superfamily antagonists and agonists with switchable specificity.

Diversified, miniaturized and ancestral parts for mammalian genome engineering and molecular recording

The paper designs and characterizes diverse genomic parts for precise genome editing and molecular recording in mammalian cells.

Chromatin context-dependent regulation and epigenetic manipulation of prime editing

This paper identifies epigenetic features affecting prime editing efficiency and shows how chromatin state can be manipulated to enhance or reduce editing efficiency at specific genomic loci.

Multiplex genomic recording of enhancer and signal transduction activity in mammalian cells

This paper introduces ENGRAM, a method to genomically record enhancer and signal transduction activity in mammalian cells, demonstrating its ability to track multiple transcriptional reporters with high fidelity.

A temporally resolved, multiplex molecular recorder based on sequential genome editing

This paper introduces DNA Ticker Tape, a system for in vivo molecular recording that sequentially records events using CRISPR-Cas9 and prime editing, demonstrating its ability to record complex event histories and cell lineage.

SwabExpress: An end-to-end protocol for extraction-free COVID-19 testing

SwabExpress is a simplified COVID-19 testing protocol that eliminates the need for transport media and nucleic acid extraction, achieving high sensitivity and specificity.

Massively parallel profiling and predictive modeling of the outcomes of CRISPR/Cas9-mediated double-strand break repair

The paper profiles CRISPR/Cas9-induced mutational outcomes and develops a predictive model based on sequence context to guide DSB repair outcomes.

Scaling single cell transcriptomics through split pool barcoding

The paper introduces SPLiT-seq, a scalable scRNA-seq method, and applies it to analyze 109,069 cells from a mouse brain, identifying 13 main cell populations and developmental substructures.